De Laurentiis confirms Napoli planning new stadium

Article posted by Coliseum, July 23^rd, 2018

Image: Giuseppe Bellini

Italian football club Napoli is planning to build a new stadium and a new sports center, according to local media reports. Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis was widely quoted by the media earlier this month confirming these plans.

“I’m about to conclude the purchase of land of 100 hectares, where we will build both the stadium and our sports center,” de Laurentiis told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I am taking care of the destination of the area so as not to risk bureaucracy, because I can count that within three years, we will be able to build a new multifunctional stadium with 30,000 seats,” he said.

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In the interview, de Laurentiis confirmed that the new stadium (new venue design) will not be coming up in the Municipality of Naples, because it would be more complicated to obtain permits to build.

“But we have chosen an area already prepared, even from an urban point of view, near the railway area,” he said.

“I asked my architects to copy the project of the Manchester City sports center- structure where in addition to the first team you train all the youth sector and therefore we will have [Italian football coach Edoardo] Edy Reja with us, a person that I respect a lot. We can enhance the football potential in Campania,” he told the Gazzetta.

Napoli’s current home stadium, the Stadio San Paolo, was opened in 1959 and underwent renovations in 1990 and also recently last year.

Amid speculations over the location of the new stadium, de Laurentiis, in an official statement clarified that “the future stadium will not necessarily be located on the site of the current training ground in Castel Volturno.”

“The club has spoken many times with the Mayor of Melito Antonio Amente. Given that a site of around 100 hectares is necessary for the project, this is the location that has been identified as a possibility. A range of different solutions can be considered for this site,” he said in the statement.

“Dialogue is ongoing with the Mayor of Castel Volturno around the possibility of building eight football pitches with associated facilities along the Regi Lagni,” de Laurentiis further said, adding: “The Coppola Group has suggested making a large expanse of land available where it would be possible to build both the stadium and the training ground.”

“We are analysing each of these four options, evaluating their viability and timescales with regards to all residents of Naples and Campania,” he remarked.

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